Apparatus for hanging clothing

ABSTRACT

The apparatus of the invention for hanging clothing includes a hollow, a horizontally extending elongated member having at least one longitudinal slot in its bottom surface. A plurality of hangers are supported by the elongated member, and each of the hangers is provided with clothing support means with a vertical shaft extending upward therefrom and having a horizontally extending bar at the top end. Each shaft extends upwardly through the longitudinal slot with the bars disposed inside the elongated member and extending in a direction transverse to the direction of elongation of the slot.

Waited Mates Patent Una Pauline lilatton Alexander 1311 East Second St, Pass Christian, Miss.

[72] inventor 1,462,803 7/1923 Deserty 211/123 1,613,447 1/1927 Ellburg 211/123 1,814,692 7/1931 Harris 211/123 2,460,997 2/1949 Myers... 211/123 2,611,492 9/1952 Watts 211/113 2,757,804 8/1956 Sadwin 211/123 X 3,430,775 3/1969 Fleischman 211/123 FORElGN PATENTS 88,921 8/1958 Netherlands 21l/105.1

Primary Examiner-Ramon S. Britts Attorneys-L. S. Van Landingham, Jr. and Shanley & O'Neill ABSTRACT: The apparatus of the invention for hanging clothing includes a hollow, a horizontally extending elongated member having at least one longitudinal slot in its bottom surface. A plurality of hangers are supported by the elongated member, and each of the hangers is provided with clothing support means with a vertical shaft extending upward therefrom and having a horizontally extending bar at the top end. Each shaft extends upwardly through the longitudinal slot with the bars disposed inside the elongated member and extending in a direction transverse to the direction of elongation of the slot.

I APPARATUS FOR HANGING CLOTHING SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A horizontally extending hollow elongated member having a bottom surface with a longitudinal slot is adapted to be secured to a shelf or ceiling in a closet or the like with the slot exposed. A plurality of hangers for clothing and the like are adapted to be supported by the member to hang down there below and to be slidable therein. To this end, each hanger has clothing support means with a vertical shaft extending upward therefrom and into the longitudinal slot. Each shaft has at its top a horizontal bar located in the member above the longitudinal slot and extending transversely to the longitudinal slot whereby the hangers can be slid back and forth for use without falling out of the member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings: 7

FIG. I is a perspective view of one form of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a detail bottom view of the form of FIG. I with the hangers removed;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the form of FIG. ll;

FIG. 4i is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing a modification thereof;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another modification of the form of FIG. I; and

FIG. 6 is a view taken along line 6-6 in FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIGS. I-3, an elongated hollow horizontal tube I is adapted to be supported by removable end caps 12 which in turn can be secured to opposite vertical walls of the closet or the like. The bottom surface of tube It) has a narrow elongated longitudinally extending horizontal slot 14. The slot has at its midpoint a relatively wide transversely extending slot 16.

The hangers I7 each have curved clothing support 18 with a shaft 20 extending vertically upward from the midpoint and terminating at its top end in a horizontal bar 22 which can be inserted into the hollow portion of the tube via slot 16. The bar is then disposed transversely of the slot M and supports the entire hanger 17 in slidable position.

While in FIG. 3, the tube I0 has a circular cross section and the bar 22 has a curvature corresponding thereto, as shown in FIG. 4, the tube I0 can have a flat bottom surface and the bar 22' can also be flat. The clothing support 1% and the shaft 20' of hanger 17' may be identical with the clothing support 18 and the shaft 20 of hanger I7 as illustrated in FIG. 3.

Referring now to FIGS. and 6, the tube or I0 can be replaced by a horizontally extending hollow member 30 having in cross section the shape of a U and provided with a flat bottom horizontal surface 32. Two separate spaced elongated longitudinally extending slot portions 34A and 34B are disposed end to end along a common center line. As may be seen in FIG. 6, the bottom surface 32 is provided with a plurality of transversely extending hanger positioning means 35 for maintaining the bars 22 and clothing supports 18" of the clothing hangers 17" in the positions as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 i.e., extending transversely with respect to the longitudinally extending slot portions 34A and 348. The hangers are 17" slidably disposed as before. As is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the widths of the shafts 20" and bars 22" respectively are substantially less than the widths of the slot portions 34A. and 34B and the hanger positioning means 35, thereby allowing the bars 22" to be aligned coaxially with the slot portions 34A and 34B and inserted therethrough, and then rotated one-quarter turn and placed within a hanger positioning means 35. The member 36 is supported by screws 36 which extend upward from the bottom surface in spaced positions from the portions 34A and 348 into the bottom surface of a shelf ceiling or the like 38.

While I have described my invention with particular reference to the drawings, such is not to be considered as limiting its actual scope.

Having thus described this invention, what is asserted as new is:

ll. Apparatus for hanging clothing comprising means for supporting a plurality of clothing hangers including an elongated hollow member having a generally U- shaped configuration in cross section,

said U-shaped member including a pair of spaced leg portions extending upward from a lower portion which joins the lower ends of the leg portions,

means for mounting said U-shaped member on a supporting surface,

said U-shaped member being mounted whereby said lower portion extends substantially horizontally and said leg portions extend upward from the horizontal lower portron,

slot means consisting solely of at least one longitudinally extending slot of uniform width formed in said lower portion of the U-shaped member and being coaxial therewith,

the ends of said slot being closed and the edges of said slot being uninterrupted throughout the extend thereof,

a plurality of spaced transversely extending hanger positioning means on the inner surface of the lower portion of the U-shaped member contiguous with the longitudinally extending slot and extending at substantially right angles thereto,

there being a hanger positioning means adjacent each end of said longitudinally extending slot and at least one additional hanger positioning means therebetween and spaced therefrom,

a plurality of one piece clothing hangers, each clothing hanger consisting essentially of a. an upright shaft having a maximum dimension in cross section which is substantially less than the width of said longitudinally extending slot,

b. an elongated clothing supporting means carried by the lower end of the shaft and extending laterally from opposed sides thereof, and

c. an elongated hanger supporting means on the upper end of the shaft which has a length substantially greater that the width of the longitudinally extending slot but less than the width of the lower portion of the U-shaped member and which has a width substantially less than the width of the longitudinally extending slot, the elongated hanger supporting means having a length and width of the transversely extending hanger positioning means,

the clothing hanger shafts extending through the longitudinally extending slot and being supported in a generally upright manner,

the elongated clothing supporting means extending generally transversely under the longitudinally extending slot,

the elongated hanger supporting means extending generally transversely above said longitudinally extending slot and resting on the adjacent inner surface portion of the hollow U-shaped member to thereby support the weight of the clothing hanger and the clothing placed thereon,

the contour of the engaging portion of the elongated hanger supporting means throughout the extent thereof and the inner surface portion of the hollow U-shaped member being substantially flat and conforming to and being in contact with each other to aid in properly positioning the clothing hanger with respect to the U shaped member,

the elongated clothing supporting means and the elongated hanger supporting means being mounted on the shaft so that they are in approximately the same vertical plane, and

the elongated hanger supporting means being maintained in a proper position at generally right angles to the longitudinally extending slot by the hanger positioning means whereby the elongated clothing supporting means is also maintained in a similar proper position. the height of the leg portion of the U-shaped member being sufficiently greater than the maximum dimension of the cross section of the hanger supporting means so as to permit rotation of the clothing hanger thereby facilitating insertion and removal of the hanger supporting means through the longitudinally extending slot.

2. The apparatus of claim wherein said lower portion has a plurality of said longitudinally extending slot means formed therein, the plurality of slot means being disposed in spaced TJNTTT: STATES PATENT OFFICE CE'MMCAHE F EURQ' Patent No. 3 627 143 Dated December 14; 1971 lnven toi-(s) Una Pauline Hatton Alexander It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 35, change "the" to a line 48, after "surface" insert 24 line 53, after "tube" insert l0 lines 64 and 65, "are 17" should read 17" are Column 2,, line 51, after "width" insert substantially less I than the length and width Column 3,, line l0 after "claim" insert l Signed and sealed this 9th day of May 197% (SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD MmF'LJETCZHEER JRm ROBERT GQTTSGHALK Attesting Offioer' Commissioner of Patents FORM PO-1050 (1069) USCOMMDC Bozrm pfig US. GOVERNMENT HUNTING OFFICE: 1969 0-366-334 

1. Apparatus for hanging clothing comprising means for supporting a plurality of clothing hangers including an elongated hollow member having a generally U-shaped configuration in cross section, said U-shaped member including a pair of spaced leg portions extending upward from a lower portion which joins the lower ends of the leg portions, means for mounting said U-shaped member on a supporting surface, said U-shaped member being mounted whereby said lower portion extends substantially horizontally and said leg portions extend upward from the horizontal lower portion, slot means consisting solely of at least one longitudinally extending slot of uniform width formed in said lower portion of the U-shaped member and being coaxial therewith, the ends of said slot being closed and the edges of said slot being uninterrupted throughout the extent thereof, a plurality of spaced transversely extending hanger positioning means on the inner surface of the lower portion of the U-shaped member contiguous with the longitudinally extending slot and extending at substantially right angles thereto, there being a hanger positioning means adjacent each end of said longitudinally extending slot and at least one additional hanger positioning means therebetween and spaced therefrom, a plurality of one piece clothing hangers, each clothing hanger consisting essentially of a. an upright shaft having a maximum dimension in cross section which is substantially less than the width of said longitudinally extending slot, b. an elongated clothing supporting means carried by the lower end of the shaft and extending laterally from opposed sides thereof, and c. an elongated hanger supporting means on the upper end of the shaft which has a length substantially greater that the width of the longitudinally extending slot but less than the width of the lower portion of the U-shaped member and which has a width substantially less than the width of the longitudinally extending slot, the elongated hanger supporting means having a length and width substantially less than the length and width of the transversely extending hanger positioning means, the clothing hanger shafts extending through the longitudinally extending slot and being supported in a generally upright manner, the elongated clothing supporting means extending generally transversely under the longitudinally extending slot, the elongated hanger supporting means extending generally transversely above said longitudinally extending slot and resting on the adjacent inner surfAce portion of the hollow Ushaped member to thereby support the weight of the clothing hanger and clothing placed thereon, the contour of the engaging portion of the elongated hanger supporting means throughout the extent thereof and the inner surface portion of the hollow U-shaped member being substantially flat and conforming to and being in contact with each other to aid in properly positioning the clothing hanger with respect to the U-shaped member, the elongated clothing supporting means and the elongated hanger supporting means being mounted on the shaft so that they are in approximately the same vertical plane, and the elongated hanger supporting means being maintained in a proper position at generally right angles to the longitudinally extending slot by the hanger positioning means whereby the elongated clothing supporting means is also maintained in a similar proper position, the height of the leg portion of the U-shaped member being sufficiently greater than the maximum dimension of the cross section of the hanger supporting means so as to permit rotation of the clothing hanger thereby facilitating insertion and removal of the hanger supporting means through the longitudinally extending slot.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said lower portion has a plurality of said longitudinally extending slot means formed therein, the plurality of slot means being disposed in spaced end to end relation along a common center line.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said mounting means includes attaching means adjacent the ends of the plurality of spaced longitudinally extending slots for mounting said U-shaped member on the supporting surface.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said attaching means includes a plurality of elongated fastening means, the lower ends of said fastening means being attached to said lower portion of the U-shaped member and extending upward therefrom, said fastening means being attached on the upper ends thereof to said supporting surface. 